New 'garden' tractors
- Thread starter dewpoint
- Start date
Auto Doc's
Lawn Addict
Do you want it for mowing and garden/ utility work? I think the JD compact tractor line has more selection, but you get what you pay for.
Massey Ferguson would be my next choice.
Stay away from odd brands because parts and service are hard to find.
Not very many tractor companies offer an array of options these days.
Massey Ferguson would be my next choice.
Stay away from odd brands because parts and service are hard to find.
Not very many tractor companies offer an array of options these days.
Appreciate the reply-not so much the sub compact/compact offerings but more towards what homeowners would have had in mind 25 yrs ago when one wanted something above a lawn tractor but below the JD 700 series. Function over form-2 wd, 2w steer, traction lock an external hydro filter and of course a proven carb engine. The power equipment world seems to have gone nuts- showrooms literally jam packed with two lever 'zippity doo dahs' (zero turns) and nary a proper garden tractor to be found but for hideously priced plastic green and orange offerings which I have little interest in and even then you don't get a true serviceable tranny with external filter.
It really looks like I am sol.
It really looks like I am sol.
ILENGINE
Lawn Royalty
The true garden tractor market really started dying in the 70's with people getting away from gardening therefore not needed larger yard tractors, and was quickly followed by the introduction of compact and sub compact tractors that were more capable than the previous version of garden tractors. By the 90's the true garden tractor market was officially dead, even though there was tractors that were still being made that fit into the size range, but were really oversized lawn tractors into the early 00's, and had been replaced by small diesel 4wd tractors with much better capabilites.
Auto Doc's
Lawn Addict
I think the last really versatile garden farm tractor was the red Farmall Cub models with all of the garden attachments and the Woods belly mower and 4 ft. sickle bar cutter.
We always worked the larger tractors for big field operation but used the Cub to handle our home garden and to also help with our neighbors' gardens.
Has people became reliant on grocery stores the home/ community gardens faded away and so did the demand for compact garden tractors.
We always worked the larger tractors for big field operation but used the Cub to handle our home garden and to also help with our neighbors' gardens.
Has people became reliant on grocery stores the home/ community gardens faded away and so did the demand for compact garden tractors.
ILENGINE
Lawn Royalty
Demand didn't go down, the new garden tractor have names like JD 1025R and Kioti CS2210H and MF 1GC.23 and Kubota BX2380
Auto Doc's
Lawn Addict
You are naming off compact utility tractors that can have a mower deck option, but many have frontend loaders and even backhoes attached to them.
No one that I know these days of offers "garden tractor packages" with dedicated garden attachments included.
All Cat 0 attachments have been individually priced and priced high. A single bottom plow, a disc, tiller and a cultivator combined practically cost as much as the tractor would. Forget about a 2-row planter, a side row dresser or a spike wheel aerator.
No one that I know these days of offers "garden tractor packages" with dedicated garden attachments included.
All Cat 0 attachments have been individually priced and priced high. A single bottom plow, a disc, tiller and a cultivator combined practically cost as much as the tractor would. Forget about a 2-row planter, a side row dresser or a spike wheel aerator.
ILENGINE
Lawn Royalty
That is just it. the true garden tractor line has been replaced with sub-compacts using cat 1 attachments instead of the old cat 0 garden tractor implements.
Hammermechanicman
Lawn Addict
Back in the 70's the difference between a garden tractor and a lawn mower was that a garden tractor was rated for ground engaging implements such as a plow or disk. The Cub Cadets and Sears ST and Suburban series and others were built like small tanks. Nothing today is built like those were.